MORE IN JAIL TO SEE LAWYERS BY VIDEO VISIT; SYSTEM CUTS TRAVEL, POLLUTION.

Byline: Erin Gebroe Daily News Staff Writer

A video conference system in which public defenders and probation officers meet with inmates without having to travel long distances to jails is expected to be expanded to 11 more county facilities.

The county Board of Supervisors this week received an offer of a $747,284 grant from the South Coast Air Quality Management District to expand the program, aimed at reducing auto pollution while it saves travel time for county employees.

Overall, the program will allow 900 video interviews a week and save county employees one million miles a year, according to a report by the county's Criminal Justice Coordination Committee.

``You're talking about very considerable emissions reductions,'' said Peter Whittingham, a deputy for Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich, who serves on the air quality board. ``This is really the wave of the future.''

For example, he noted that the Pitchess Detention Center, with four separate facilities in a large jail complex, sits at the edge of the county in Castaic, far from most courts and the offices of public defenders and of probation officials who interview inmates for the courts.

Public Defender's Office supervisors say video conferencing can improve relationships between inmates and their lawyers, who can effectively see each other more often.

``You can have more frequent contact with a client,'' said Mel Tennenbaum, who oversees busy public defenders at Central Superior Court. ``It helps lawyers be prepared in court and able to go forward with their cases.''

Started in 1991 and expanded in 1996, the program most recently allowed interviews of inmates at Pitchess by probation officers and public defenders in Van Nuys, Los Angeles, Compton and Lynwood.

The latest grant will expand technology at Pitchess and extend it to the Men's Central Jail, Twin Towers and the Lynwood Justice Center.

It will allow inmates at those facilities to communicate with probation officers and lawyers in Lancaster, San Fernando, downtown Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Pasadena, Pomona, Norwalk and Long Beach.

The air quality board got money for the grant from a vehicle license registration surcharge imposed under Assembly Bill 2766. The air quality board uses the revenue to reduce air pollution from motor vehicle traffic.

Video conferencing saves time and cuts pollution, lawyers say, but is not a substitute for some personal contact with clients in jail.

Bill Weiss, who oversees public defenders in Van Nuys, said he tells his lawyers not to view it as a replacement.

``It's not to be used in lieu of jail visits; it's to be used in addition to,'' he said.

Tennenbaum of Los Angeles agreed. ``There are internal problems getting people coordinated,'' he added. ``Inmates sometimes don't get to where they're supposed to be'' to use the video equipment.

In general, he said, lawyers ``like it except that it doesn't always work.''